Thread: Toddler in own bed

I know this sounds awful but sometimes you have to do it. A friend of mine put her 3 year old in bed and when he got out the first time she told him next time she was going to put him in there with the door shut. The 2nd time he came out she did and held the door shut while he cried it out. It didn't hurt him at all and after that first time where he realized he wasn't getting in her bed no matter how hard he cried he stayed in his bed from then on out.

The super nanny tricks don't work from one day to another. You need to keep your stance. You need to keep putting her in her bed over and over until she gives out. If you get tired and give in, next time she will keep at it because she knows you will give up.

Consistency is the only answer to this. Make sure she knows that she has her own bed to sleep in and she will not be allowed to stay in your bed. My son got as sneaky as to lay at the foot of my bed where I didn't notice him until morning!

My parents put a lock on the outside of our door so that we couldn't get out of our room until they woke up. This is now considered abuse so I wouldn't suggest it. Maybe a gate in front of the door or explaining that big kids stay in their beds will help. Maybe a reward in the morning will help (ie sticker or doing a fun activity)

I would just use reverse psychology . Say, "big girls go to sleep in their own bed!" and if they keep at it, just keep saying it. "we got you a big girl bed, are you a big girl!?" make it fun, make her WANT to sleep in her own bed. make a little chart, and for every night she goes to bed in her own bed, without fighting, she gets a sticker or something (: just make it fun. she's associating punishment with her bed, so she doesn't want to sleep in it !